Facts

Just a week after the city commission voted 3-2 against allowing the chain store at the Ringling Shopping Center, the six candidates on Wednesday night weighed in on the issue at a debate hosted by the Sarasota Republican Club.

Four of the six candidates running in Tuesday's city election said they would have voted to allow the Walmart. Two said they would have sided with the majority on the city commission to reject it.

Richard Dorfman said it was a “political decision” to block the project and that the commission should have allowed them to come in.

Incumbent Suzanne Atwell, who voted to allow the Walmart, said she backed the project last week and would do it again. She said the commission has to approach such projects in a “quasi-judicial” manner and decide projects on facts, not politics.

“I did what was judicial,” said Atwell, the only incumbent running for re-election

Candidates Linda Holland and Kelvin Lumpkin also said they would have supported the project.

Lumpkin said bringing in Walmart would help diversify the city's heavily residential tax base. Holland said she would have not denied the project to keep negotiations going with Walmart on improving the project.

On the flip side, Susan Chapman and Pete Theisen both said they would have voted against the project. Chapman said she objected to the fact the store would be open 24 hours a day and the store was unwilling to compromise on the hours. Theisen said he personally likes shopping at Walmart, but would have voted against it.

The six candidates are battling for two at-large seats on the city commission. The winner gets a four-year term that pays about $24,000.

The debate itself was a bit of an oddity in local politics in that the Republican Club hosted three Democrats who are running for two of the seats in what is otherwise a nonpartisan race.

Sarasota County Republican State Committeeman Christian Ziegler said it was odd seeing Democrats at the podium of a Republican meeting, but praised the Democrats for having the courage to venture into a potentially unfriendly environment.

<p>The recently blocked Walmart project near downtown Sarasota was the star of one of the final debates with all six city commissioners.</p><p>Just a week after the city commission voted 3-2 against allowing the chain store at the Ringling Shopping Center, the six candidates on Wednesday night weighed in on the issue at a debate hosted by the Sarasota Republican Club.</p><p>Four of the six candidates running in Tuesday's city election said they would have voted to allow the Walmart. Two said they would have sided with the majority on the city commission to reject it.</p><p>Richard Dorfman said it was a “political decision” to block the project and that the commission should have allowed them to come in.</p><p>Incumbent Suzanne Atwell, who voted to allow the Walmart, said she backed the project last week and would do it again. She said the commission has to approach such projects in a “quasi-judicial” manner and decide projects on facts, not politics.</p><p>“I did what was judicial,” said Atwell, the only incumbent running for re-election</p><p>Candidates Linda Holland and Kelvin Lumpkin also said they would have supported the project.</p><p>Lumpkin said bringing in Walmart would help diversify the city's heavily residential tax base. Holland said she would have not denied the project to keep negotiations going with Walmart on improving the project.</p><p>On the flip side, Susan Chapman and Pete Theisen both said they would have voted against the project. Chapman said she objected to the fact the store would be open 24 hours a day and the store was unwilling to compromise on the hours. Theisen said he personally likes shopping at Walmart, but would have voted against it.</p><p>The six candidates are battling for two at-large seats on the city commission. The winner gets a four-year term that pays about $24,000.</p><p>The debate itself was a bit of an oddity in local politics in that the Republican Club hosted three Democrats who are running for two of the seats in what is otherwise a nonpartisan race.</p><p>Sarasota County Republican State Committeeman Christian Ziegler said it was odd seeing Democrats at the podium of a Republican meeting, but praised the Democrats for having the courage to venture into a potentially unfriendly environment.</p><p>Atwell, Chapman and Holland are registered Democrats. Dorfman, Lumpkin and Theisen are registered Republicans.</p><p>Dorfman joked that if felt like he was playing a home game because of how frequently he attends Sarasota Republican Club meetings.</p><p>After the meeting Atwell said she had no fear of doing the event because 90 percent of what the city works on are planning and zoning issues that have little to do with partisan politics.</p><p>“This is a non-partisan race,” Atwell said.</p>